1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of mounting a torque converter on a transmission, by which a turbine runner and a stator contained in a case of the torque converter are mounted respectively on tubular members disposed coaxially in the transmission.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An automatic power transmitting unit which comprises a fluid torque converter and a transmission having a multi-stage gear arrangement including a planetary gear mechanism has been generally employed in a vehicle. The torque converter has a case which provided with a pair of opposed openings at a central portion thereof and contains a pump impeller incorporated with the case, a turbine runner disposed to be rotatable, and a stator fixed to the transmission to be interposed between the pump impeller and the turbine runner. An end portion of a tubular turbine shaft of the transmission, on which external spline teeth are provided, is inserted into the case of the torque converter through one of the openings provided thereon to engage with a turbine hub provided at the central part of the turbine runner contained in the case, on which internal spline teeth are provided, and an end portion of a fixed tubular member provided for surrounding the tubular turbine shaft in the transmission, on which external spline teeth are provided, is also inserted into the case of the torque converter through the opening provided thereon to engage with a stator hub provided at the central part of the stator contained in the case, on which internal spline teeth are provided.
For mounting the torque converter on the transmission in a process of assembling the automatic power transmitting unit, there has been proposed such a method as to include the steps of setting the transmission to have the tubular turbine shaft thereof extending vertically so as to make its end portion project upward with the external splines provided thereon, setting the torque converter above the transmission to have an imaginary axis of the turbine runner and an imaginary axis of the stator each extending vertically, and causing the torque converter set above the transmission to descend toward the transmission so as to engage the internal spline teeth of the turbine hub with the external spline teeth provided on the end portion of the tubular turbine shaft and to engage the internal spline teeth of the stator hub with the external spline teeth provided on the end portion of the fixed tubular member.
Further, there has been also proposed another method of mounting the torque converter on the transmission, which includes the steps of setting the transmission to have the tubular turbine shaft thereof extending horizontally as to make its end portion project laterally with the external splines provided thereon, setting the torque converter by the side of the transmission to have an imaginary axis of the turbine runner and an imaginary axis of the stator each extending horizontally and to face the end portions of the tubular turbine shaft and the fixed tubular member of the transmission, and causing the torque converter to be automatically positioned for engaging the internal spline teeth of the turbine hub with the external spline teeth provided on the end portion of the tubular turbine shaft and for engaging the internal spline teeth of the stator hub with the external spline teeth provided on the end portion of the fixed tubular member, as disclosed in, for example, the Japanese patent application published before examination under publication No. 62-224536.
In the case of the method by which the torque converter is set above the transmission and then combined with the transmission, since the torque converter is put in a condition wherein the turbine runner and the stator are movable freely in the horizontal direction with the respective imaginary axes extending vertically in the case of the torque converter, it is necessary for aligning vertically the end portion of the tubular turbine shaft and the end portion of the fixed tubular member with the turbine hub and the stator hub, respectively, to have positioning and rotatory adjustment of the torque converter in process of descending the torque converter toward the transmission. Accordingly, considerably complicated positioning of the torque converter in relation to the transmission and a relatively long working time are undesirably required for mounting the torque converter on the transmission.
On the other hand, in the case of the method by which the torque converter is set to have the tubular turbine shaft thereof extending horizontally and the torque converter is set by the side of the transmission to have the imaginary axes of the turbine runner and the stator each extending horizontally and to face the end portions of the tubular turbine shaft and the fixed tubular member of the transmission and then caused to be automatically positioned for engaging the internal spline teeth of the turbine hub with the external spline teeth provided on the end portion of the tubular turbine shaft and for engaging the internal spline teeth of the stator hub with the external spline teeth provided on the end portion of the fixed tubular member, it is required for aligning horizontally the end portion of the tubular turbine shaft and the end portion of the fixed tubular member with the turbine hub and the stator hub, respectively, to have annoying and complicated vertical positioning of the torque converter prior to phase adjustments of the spline teeth provided on both of the transmission and the torque converter except for some measures provided particularly for avoiding the requirement. However, there has not been proposed any prior art providing such measures as to avoid the disadvantage in the above described case.